Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Davis.
Maria, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started playing music on a keyboard as a kid, teaching myself how to play songs I liked by playing a cassette tape over and over until I got it right. As a teenager I branched out to other instruments I would pick up at yard sales and ended up teaching myself how to play the trumpet, native flute and some guitar. I’ve never had a music lesson in my life and everything I know has been self-taught. I absolutely loved creating my own songs.
I wanted to pursue music when I was younger, but at the time the ability to do so was not possible. I was raised in a very small town with absolutely no opportunities for music available to me. The only music store was in the next town over and they only sold pianos. I was told by a person working there that I would never be able to release my own music unless every note was written out along with a long list of other dream crushing road blocks. I couldn’t read or write music, and I had nobody to teach me either. Keep in mind this was a time before the internet existed. Aside from looking things up in an encyclopedia, most people gathered information from other people. I was young and I believed what I was told, so I had to accept that it wasn’t something I would ever be able to do. In my early thirties I bought a camera and moved into filmmaking, and eventually took up aerial cinematography.
Over the years I sold the instruments I used to have because I never thought I would be able to do anything with them. It was filmmaking that brought me back to music, specifically with aerial cinematography. I would use royalty-free music on the videos I created, and trying to find the right song to fit the vibe of the video was extremely hard. I missed playing the keyboard and wondered if I could put my own melodies to the films I was making. I browsed the internet looking for a DAW program (digital audio workstation) that would work best for me. I bought a secondhand keyboard for $100 that was by no means a professional instrument, but it did have the capability to write MIDI which could be transferred into the DAW. That is what started my professional journey in music.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I put myself through college for film and production which gave me a lot of editing training. That education made working with a DAW program a whole lot easier. However, nothing in music is a smooth road. Since I do not have any formal music training, I had to figure out what everything was including the terms used in the industry. From a tremolo to a downfilter, I had no clue what things were. However, when you dive in head first determined to learn it, things start to make sense fairly quickly. There is a lot of trial and error, but the more you work on your craft, the better you will get. There is a ton of information available online to research and learn from that can help someone in their music journey.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have produced a variety of genres, but the majority of my music is best described as electronic chillout with overtones of trance. I release music under my name, and I also release it under the name “Glamis”. I believe what sets me apart from the majority of other music producers is that I am self-taught. It seems to be working out for me though. I won the FWC Music award for my song “Cowboy”, and the music video for it is now a multiple award-winning film. I have collaborated with other amazing music producers and vocalists, and music released under the name Glamis was recently signed to a label.
In the beginning of this journey my whole intention was to put my own compositions into my film work. I never thought it would bring me to where I am today with several albums and singles behind my name. Music is medicine, and if one of my songs brightens another person’s day, that means more to me than anything else.
Who else deserves credit for your story?
There are so many people who have been a part of my journey in different ways. Let me do some name drops…
My Mom (Diane Davis), Billie Wilson, KC Lyon, Chris Tinard, John Nixon, Burk Forsythe, Cindy & Nick Cain, Paul Lincoln Alayo, Celeste Marie Riley-Marsh, Philip Jason Marsh, Michael Goodluck, Helen Stephenson and Julie Anderson.
This certainly isn’t everyone, and I wish I could name all those who are a part of my life. The people who also deserve credit are those who listen to and share my music. I am forever grateful for everyone who does. It means the world to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mariadavismusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariadavismusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MariaDavisMusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mariadavis
- Other: https://linktr.ee/mariadavismusic
